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The Florida Panthers got back on the winning track as their road trip continued north of the border on Thursday night.

After blowing a late two-goal lead on Tuesday in Boston, Florida held tight to a third period lead in Toronto, defeating the Maple Leafs 3-2 at Scotiabank Arena.

Exactly two minutes into the game, John Tavares one-timed a long cross-ice pass from William Nylander past a sliding Sergei Bobrovsky to give the Maple Leafs an early 1-0 lead.

Then with nearly two minutes to go in the opening period, Sam Bennett slammed home a Mackie Samoskevich rebound while Florida was on the power play to tie the game at one.

Florida took their first lead of the game about six minutes into the second period.

A.J. Greer dug the puck free in the corner and found a wide-open Niko Mikkola in the high slot. Mikkola wired a wrist shot past the blocker of Anthony Stolarz to put the Cats ahead 2-1.

Bennett’s second goal of the game was not that dissimilar from his first, putting the puck home from the doorstep to extend the Cats lead heading into the third.

Less than five minutes into the final frame, Max Domi caught Florida trying to change their defensive pairing and beat Sergei Bobrovsky glove side to bring Toronto back within one of the Cats.

That would be as close as the Leafs would get, thanks to some big stops by Bobrovsky down the stretch.

On to Montreal.

QUICK THOUGHTS

Bennett extended his point streak to four games, with three goals and five points during the run.

He’s also averaging more than a point per game dating back to late January.

Samoskevish has now accumulated six points over his past six games and eight points in 10 games since the start of February.

Sam Reinhart picked up a pair of assists, giving him six points over his past four games.

After going six straight games without a point, Greer now has four points over his past seven outings.

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It was only last year that Vancouver Canucks bench boss Rick Tocchet was on top of the coaching world. 

He led the Canucks to the top spot in the Pacific Division with a 50-23-9 record. The NHL recognized Tocchet for his success, winning the Jack Adams Award as the coach of the year.

Things are notably different for Tocchet's team this season. 

The Canucks fell to fifth place in the Pacific, and they’re behind the Calgary Flames for the second wild-card berth in the Western Conference. 

That makes Tocchet’s future a little hazier than expected heading into the campaign. 

TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reported in January that the Canucks have a team option to keep Tocchet for one more season, but the coach reportedly has the right to decide whether or not he would sign. Injuries have been a factor in the team’s drop in the standings this season, but there have also been a fair share of distractions, including the rift between J.T. Miller and center Elias Pettersson and Pettersson’s drop in production this season leading to more trade rumors.

On Sportsnet 590, Canucks journalist Rick Dhaliwal pointed out there’s no extension in place for Tocchet down to the homestretch of the season, even though he's the reigning coach of the year.

“I know the media’s getting to Tocchet, because he made a couple of comments in the last two games that tells you the media’s getting to him,” Dhaliwal said.

“It’s been a really trying year,” he added. “He’s had to babysit Miller, Pettersson, the feud. Media’s all over him now. If this team doesn’t make the playoffs, what’s going to happen then? But he’s got a decision to make, Rick Tocchet.”

Another factor that could decide Tocchet’s future is that his former team, the Pittsburgh Penguins, could be looking for a new coach if they decide to move on from longtime bench boss Mike Sullivan. The Penguins have been committed to Sullivan since 2015 and gave him a vote of confidence early this season. His job on Team USA at the 4 Nations Face-Off also shows why Pittsburgh values him so much.

But Pittsburgh’s inability to make the Stanley Cup playoffs for likely three-straight years could put Sullivan’s job in jeopardy.

If the Penguins do part ways with Sullivan, Tocchet would be an excellent fit with the Pens. Tocchet won a Cup as a player with Pittsburgh in 1992 and as an assistant coach in 2016 and 2017, so he’s very familiar with the organization. As good a coach Sullivan has been for Pittsburgh, changing things up could spark the club. Tocchet could give the core of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang and Erik Karlsson a real bump, the same way he did for Canucks players last season.

The Penguins clearly would still want an experienced hand as they try to retool on the fly, and that describes Tocchet to a ‘T.’ That said, there are no guarantees the Penguins would pursue Tocchet or that the Canucks would even make him available.

Vancouver still has time to keep Tocchet around. Despite being caught battling for a wild-card spot instead of first place in the Pacific Divsion, the Canucks’ power-play percentage under Tocchet is still about as good as last season, and their penalty-kill rate is slightly better, at 82.1 percent compared to 79.1 percent in 2023-24. But with Demko’s injury issues, the team’s goals against per game increased from 2.70 last season to 3.03. The goals-for per game also fell from 3.40 to 2.71.

It’s tough to overly fault Tocchet for his team’s struggles, but the closer we get to the off-season with no extension, the more talk there will be about his future. The NHL’s coaching carousel spins fast these years, after all, with teams having less patience than usual for their bench bosses. 

The Canucks might be squandering the improvement Tocchet created in Vancouver if they don’t bring him back, whether it’s their choice or the coach’s. Either way, the Penguins may want to stay tuned to his situation.

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